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Updated: Feb 19, 2026

Performing In Situ Closed-Cell Gas Reactions in the Transmission Electron Microscope
Published on: July 24, 2021
Integrated Transmission Electron and Single-Molecule Fluorescence Microscopy Correlates Reactivity with
Frank C Hendriks1, Sajjad Mohammadian2, Zoran Ristanović1
1Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis, Debye Institute of Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584, CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Establishing structure-activity relationships in complex, hierarchically structured nanomaterials, such as fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts, requires characterization with complementary, correlated analysis techniques. An integrated setup has been developed to perform transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and single-molecule fluorescence (SMF) microscopy on such nanostructured samples. Correlated structure-reactivity information was obtained for 100 nm thin, microtomed sections of a single FCC catalyst particle using this novel SMF-TEM high-resolution combination. High reactivity in a thiophene oligomerization probe reaction correlated well with TEM-derived zeolite locations, while matrix components, such as clay and amorphous binder material, were found not to display activity. Differences in fluorescence intensity were also observed within and between distinct zeolite aggregate domains, indicating that not all zeolite domains are equally active.
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